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Adult adoption

For the Canadian independent film, see Adult Adoption (film).

Adult adoption is a form of adoption between two or more adults in order to transfer inheritance rights and/or filiation. Adult adoption may be done for various reasons including: to establish intestate inheritance rights;[1] to formalize a step-parent/step-child relationship or a foster parent/foster child relationship; or to restore the original legal relationship between a person and their biological parent(s), where that person had been adopted by other, adoptive parents previously (and usually as a child, and perhaps without the full/complete consent of the biological parent(s) due to circumstances at the time).[2][3]

In Japan, adult adoption may be used in order to facilitate the continuance of a family business.[4] This form of adoption is known as mukoyōshi ("son-in-law adoption").[5]

Adult adoption also became a method to gain honours and hereditary titles in some jurisdictions, especially in Europe. However, such adoptions (especially where they occurred for reasons of financial need on the part of the adoptive parent) are oftentimes contested by others in the line of succession or by the family (or 'house', or 'dynasty') more generally. The Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Ascania and Sayn-Wittgenstein families, for example, have title-bearing adoptive members who are not recognized by other members within the dynasty.[6][7][8]

Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, adult adoption may not be available as a legal option. In the United Kingdom and many parts of the Commonwealth, only children (persons under the age of 18) may be adopted. The UK Adoption and Children Act (2002) states that an "application for an adoption order may only be made if the person to be adopted has not attained the age of 18 years on the date of the application."[9]

In places where adult adoptions are permitted, such an adoption may or may not transfer filiation in addition to inheritance rights. For example, in Colorado, one can adopt an adult of age 21 or older for inheritance purposes, but filiation will remain unaffected.[10][11] However, adoption of a person aged 18, 19 or 20 transfers both inheritance rights and filiation.[12] In most other American states, both filiation and inheritance rights are transferred.[citation needed]

In some countries where same-sex couples have not received the same legal protections as heterosexual couples, adult adoption of a person's (life, or 'romantic', or de facto) partner has sometimes been used to try to ensure that property (in the form of a deceased's estate) can transfer to the surviving partner upon the death of the property-owner.[13][14][15] In these cases inheritance by the adult adoptee can provide a backstop or secondary protection to implement the wishes of the deceased, even despite legal or cultural frameworks that are antagonistic to such marriage-type relationships, or hostile views of the deceased's other family members.

Among same-sex couples

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Main article: Same-sex adult adoption

During the 1980s and 1990s, in absence of recognition of same-sex marriage, adult adoption was a method used by some persons who were a part of a same-sex partnership to let their surviving partner inherit their estate.[16] The process however often involved a convoluted process of removing the formal filial parent-child relationship [extant between the prospective adoptee and his/her biological parent(s)] and then applying for an adult adoption where his/her partner would be the adopter.

In the 2010 book Equality for Same-Sex Couples: The Legal Recognition of Gay Partnerships in Europe and the United States, author Yuval Merin called adult adoption among same-sex couples "problematic" and noted that it had not gained popularity as a means to "circumvent the impossibility of same-sex marriage" at that time in the U.S.[17] It nevertheless is used as one possible strategy in some jurisdictions still, given the absence of alternatives in some places in certain periods, and given the hostility and discrimination faced by same-sex people seeking to provide for a loving partner who survives them.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ratliff, S. (2011). "Adult Adoption: Intestate Succession and Class Gifts under the Uniform Probate Code" (PDF). Northwestern University Law Review. 105 (4).
  2. ^ "Healing Families Dismembered By Adoption".
  3. ^ Tribe, Modern (13 May 2022). "Adoptee Rights and Adoption Annulment - Petrie-Flom Center". petrieflom.law.harvard.edu. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  4. ^ Mehrotra, Vikas; Morck, Randall; Shim, Jungwook; Wiwattanakantangd, Yupana (2013). "Adoptive Expectations: Rising Sons in Japanese Family Firms". Journal of Financial Economics. 108 (3): 840–854. doi:10.1016/j.jfineco.2013.01.011. ISSN 0304-405X.
  5. ^ "Keeping it in the family: Family firms adopt an unusual approach to remain competitive". The Economist. 1 December 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Der verrückte Stammbaum der Von Anhalts". Blick (in German). 29 November 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  7. ^ "Deutscher Adoptiv-Prinz mischt britische Royals auf und ärgert Familie: "Macht mich wütend"". Abendzeitung (in German). 28 May 2025. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  8. ^ "Angenommene Adelstitel: Das sind die Adoptierten von Sayn-Wittgenstein". 24royal (in German). 16 September 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  9. ^ "Adoption and Children Act 2002". legislation.gov.uk. Section 49 (4).
  10. ^ "Article 1 Adoption - Adults, Section 14-1-101 "Adoption of Adults"" (PDF). Domestic Matters. Colorado Revised Statutes. Vol. Title 14. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2016.
  11. ^ Colo. Rev. S. § 14-1-101
  12. ^ "Article 5 Relinquishment and Adoption, Part 2 Adoption, Section 19-5-201 "Who May be Adopted"" (PDF). Children's Code. Colorado Revised Statutes. Vol. Title 19. p. 301. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  13. ^ "Adoption gave gay Fox Chapel couple legal stature; now it disallows them marriage". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  14. ^ Green, Elon (19 October 2015). "The Lost History of Gay Adult Adoption". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  15. ^ Maree, Claire (2014). "Sexual citizenship at the intersections of patriarchy and heteronormativity: Same-sex partnerships and the koseki". In Chapman, David; Krogness, Karl Jakob (eds.). Japan's Household Registration System and Citizenship. Routledge. p. 194. ISBN 9781134512911.
  16. ^ Green, Elon (19 October 2015). "The Lost History of Gay Adult Adoption". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  17. ^ Merin, Yuval (2010). Equality for Same-Sex Couples: The Legal Recognition of Gay Partnerships in Europe and the United States. University of Chicago Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-226-52033-9. Retrieved 8 May 2020.


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